


Their Eyes

by IonFusion



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aoba and Iruka are siblings, Aoba has sharingan, Breakup/makeup, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Female Umino Iruka, Iruka and Kakashi and Aoba have background friendships with other characters, Iruka has sharingan, but they don't play a major role here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:14:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29343399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IonFusion/pseuds/IonFusion
Summary: We all know how Umino Iruka was born to Kohari and Ikkaku; how he lost his parents to the Kyuubi; how he came to love the jinchuuriki of the beast he hated. We all know that story.This is not that story.Yamashiro Aoba woke his sharingan at age eight. His little sister, Umino Iruka, woke hers at ten - the same night their biological mother and adopted father were killed in the Kyuubi Attack. Little do they know their eyes have already changed the world.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto, Umino Iruka & Yamashiro Aoba
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11
Collections: A Very Special KakaIru Exchange!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whenimdeadillrest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenimdeadillrest/gifts).



> This is for whenimdeadillrest! I had a lot of fun writing this. I would like to apologize for it being incomplete, but I've uploaded the entirety of the first arc of three. Both my wonderful beta, MelanatedRavenclaw, and I will still be working to get the rest of this up as soon as our busy schedules will allow ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's just a bit of background needed before you dive into the story, but I'll try to keep it brief.
> 
> Kohari was part Senju and on a genin team with Umino Ikkaku and Uchiha Niro. Niro was the bastard son of an Uchiha, and the only reason he got to keep the last name was because he unlocked his sharingan. Kohari and Niro have Niro when they're 18. It's a bit of a scandal because Niro *is* from a minor branch. The clan head of the time forgave them partly due to Kohari's lineage. 
> 
> In order to provide a stable home for their son, and because they were good friends, they got married. It wasn't a loveless marriage by far, but they both chafed at all the opportunities ripped away from them because of a thoughtless decision. Niro fell in love with another Uchiha girl for example, and Kohari fell in love with Ikkaku. They stayed faithful, but it hurt. 
> 
> Kohari got pregnant with Iruka eight years into their marriage. Niro lived only long enough to hold his baby girl once before he was killed in a border skirmish - just long enough to make Ikkaku (also Aoba and Iruka's Godfather) promise to look out for their family (Niro and Ikkaku remained best friends).
> 
> Ru looked a helluva lot like Ikkaku. This raised questions until Kohari pointed out they both looked like Hashirama whom she was related to (there was also a paternity test by demand of the Uchiha). 
> 
> Ikkaku raised Ru as his own. Aoba knew him as Ikka-ji. Kohari married Ikkaku after an appropriate mourning period, and Aoba took Niro’s mother's last name.
> 
> Kay, I think that covers everything not brought up in the fic later on. Enjoy!

She remembers the day Aoba unlocked his sharingan relatively well; she was young - four to his twelve - so she didn’t really understand what was happening. What Iruka  _ does _ know is that their parents took them to see Uchiha Fugaku, the newly-made clan Head of the Uchiha clan. Her father held her in his lap as her mother and older brother spoke to the clan Head and his wife in Fugaku’s office.

When Aoba walked out, shoulders squared and head held high, Iruka could just  _ tell _ that things had changed.  Her brother felt very determined, after all, and her mother much less anxious than before. Everything would be okay. 

From that day on, Aoba took to wearing shades when he wasn’t in the house ( _ spike of fear of anxiety every time like fear of discovery fear of others knowing but determination to carry on must be strong _ ) and felt sad every time he caught sight of his reflection for months after. He even got to train every Saturday with Uchiha Mikoto. It was some time before little Iruka stopped feeling jealous at the extra attention her only sibling got. 

Six years later, that jealousy is razed as she watches the destruction of her home with startling, traumatic clarity. 

Everything before that moment is hazy with the adrenaline and panic and terror that, to this day, Iruka is unsure was her own. But the very  _ second _ everything sharpened into focus is burned into her mind. She sees her parents as they turn to face the destructive beast, as she is torn away from them; she can even feel the heat of toxic chakra and fire and rage on her skin like a film, the roar and pumping of her blood in her ears, the screams of the dying and the desperate and the damned. Her eyes sting with smoke; ash and feather-light embers leave spotted burns like patchwork across her skin. And, above it all: the feelings of the beast, that monster, just as toxic as its chakra, eating away at her mind, consuming her thought and her reason until all she knows is the inferno of its wrath and the oddly twisted darkness of its soul. 

Umino Iruka woke in the rubble of her home. Later on, she’ll learn that the shinobi who saved her left her with a gaggle of children being lead by a genin team to the caves in the Monument; she is told by the two genin who survived - Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo - that she seemed to be in shock but took off the moment their backs were turned. That she doesn’t remember it means that her…  _ gift _ must not have been active at the time, and she had made her way to the one place her subconscious mind knew to return to. 

So Umino Iruka woke in the rubble of her home, and that is where she stayed. There are random moments that are clearer than others: memories of watching the ash suspended in morbid snowfall from a uniform-grey sky lit by an absent sun; the acrid stench of burnt wood and flesh and dreams; the dry rasp and crackling of stone and stick falling to clatter on sooted ground. 

And every so often she slipped into slumber, and those horrid memories which played across her dreamscape were even more securely scorched into her eyelids. 

By the time she was found, she was so weak that she was hardly conscious; all she knows is that she felt the familiar (friends of Aoba, over often to train, fond of her sun-flare anger and dogged determination to keep up) presences of Shiranui Genma and Sarutobi Asuma - their shock, their distress, their horror. They brought her to the hospital, she knows, just as she knows one or the other was always by her side until Aoba could be pulled from his ANBU duties. 

Aoba held her. She remembers that. She remembers him crying, the damp trail of his tears against her too-dry-too-hot-too-tight skin, the tremble of his body curled around her. Iruka remembers his horror as he pulled back and met her gaze - yanked his shades from his face and shoved them on her as if the action couldn’t be done fast enough. He curled around her again, enveloped her in his chakra signature, and buried his fingers in her hair as if afraid she might be taken from him. 

But she was safe. Safe. As a tokujou and old enough to be an adult by civilian law, Aoba was able to take full responsibility for her. As soon as possible, he whisked her away to a cramped, empty apartment. There he knelt in front of her, hands gripping her shoulders with almost bruising strength, and made her promise not to tell  _ anyone _ of her gift - her secret, the secret they now shared. He promised he would train her, he would look after her, wouldn’t abandon her...

Even all these years later, Iruka still dreams of fire and brimstone. Every time her eyes bleed red and the world sharpens, there’s a dagger of memory shoved beneath her ribs until she can blink away the dancing flames and hungry shadows. She’ll cling to the last of her family - tangle their fingers together or huddle next to him in bed - and pray neither of them will be stolen from the other (knows they would not survive it, not when their secret will never let them forget what they  _ have _ lost).

They are all that they have left. 


	2. Act I: Scene I

It’s been three months, but Iruka remembers that day clearly. 

* * *

It had started around lunch, when she felt a surge of intense negative emotions from the other side of the village. She couldn’t tell what the emotions were, exactly, because her range wasn’t that far (but the emotions were  _ intense _ , easily lapping at the edges of her awareness like some scummy wave); Iruka  _ had _ , however, noted the slightly pale pallor of Naruto’s skin even though he wasn’t behaving any differently. 

She dismissed her class at the end of the day. With an uneasy lump in her gut, Iruka hurriedly packed her papers, helped Mizuki straighten and clean what the kids missed in their rush, and made her way home. 

Aoba was there in their living room, fully armored sans mask and shades, pacing and fidgeting. The moment she opened the door, Iruka was bombarded with  _ worry-shock-fear-restlessness-keep moving-don’t think about it-where is she-is she okay _ from her brother; her temples began to throb dully (she’d had seventeen years to acclimate to sensing others emotions rather than their chakra, and it  _ still _ could become too much very quickly). She set her bag to the side and stepped cautiously closer. 

“Ba?” she asked softly. 

Torn from his shroud of emotions and thoughts, he turned and was in front of her so fast it made her head spin. His hands gripped her arms tightly enough that the tips of his gloves’ claws pierced through her uniform shirt, and his burnt umber eyes studied her intently. “ _ Ru _ ,” he breathed softly, finally relaxing a smidge as he saw she was alright. 

Iruka brought her own hands up to gently rest on his chest without pushing him away; he needed to be  _ close _ , and she would let him have that until she had her answers. “Ba?” she asked again. “What’s wrong?” 

He sighed explosively and hung his head in distress ( _anger betrayal horror exhaustion_ -). “Itachi betrayed us,” he whispered. 

She blinked. “ _ What _ .” 

Aoba let go and stepped back, one hand on his hips and the other jerking roughly back through his raven hair. “Itachi.” He gestured anxiously. “Today. He - He massacred the whole clan.” 

It took a moment to sink in - but it does, memories of the negative emotions she sensed from her classroom half a village away, Naruto’s grey complexion, the extra bounciness in his actions she realized too late was nervous energy crashing over her and drowning her completely. 

When she came back to herself, her brother had sat her down on their only couch and was crouched in front of her, now-gloveless hands pressing a hot mug of tea into her numb fingers. 

“Ru?” he asked, peering up at her in  _ concern worry always protect always keep safe _ . “I had to come find you as soon as cleanup was done. I was - I was afraid -” His words were choked off, and he hastily ducked his head to hide too-bright eyes. Aoba’s hands clenched around hers on the mug, a grounding point of contact in the swooping inversion of her reality. Her stomach swam, and her lungs burned with a need for air, and she let herself fall forward to rest her head against his, the silken strands growing silently damp. 

Everyone just… gone? Like that? Because one man - one  _ boy _ \- snapped? Oh, kami,  _ Itachi _ . His  _ brother _ -

“Sasuke?” she croaked out, fear for the young boy scorching a path right to her heart. “Kami, Oba, I  _ sent him home _ -”

“Sasuke-kun’s alive,” he assured her weakly, pulling back enough only to rise and style beside her on the couch, keeping her tucked under one arm and against his side. “He… Itachi performed  _ tsukiyomi _ on him.”

Dread as strong as she felt on  _ that _ night so many years ago sharpened everything in the room until a migraine was splitting her skull apart - but all she could focus on was  _ Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke _ in time with the crashing of heart. 

“He’s alive,” her brother hastened to explain, “but he’s in a coma - Iruka?” He turned her to face him, eyes going wide and already-pale complexion going white. Slowly, carefully, he took the mug from her hands and set it on the kotatsu nearby. “Ru?” His voice was impossibly soft, that small crease between his eyebrows that indicated he was worried even though his burgundy presence was hot with fear. “Ru, you need to calm down.” 

Her eyes  _ burned _ , the fire spreading through her head and clenching around her spinal cord like a vice. 

“ _ Ru _ .” 

Cool, calloused hands cupped her face, thumbs brushing underneath her eyes and leaving trails of ice in their wake. 

“ _ Ru _ .” 

The world was ash and screams and terror, blood and flashes of red moons and blazing eyes - 

* * *

“Iruka!” 

She jerks awake and swallows her instinctive cry. The blanket is twisted around her knees, and the cool night air grates against sweat-damp skin. Aoba leans over her, eyes wide and brow pinched. When he sees she’s awake, he presses his palm against the center of her abdomen, letting the heat of his hand sink into muscles and ease the violent tension. 

Iruka lets herself shiver apart in the silky darkness of their bedroom, trusting her best friend and sibling to catch her in the fall.

“ _ Gomen _ ,” she gasps once she can speak past the lump in her throat. 

He pulls back and flops back down onto his side. “Don’t worry about it,” he replies; he’s close enough she can feel his body heat but not close enough to touch, and she appreciates that. She settles into the safety just his presence can provide. “Was it  _ that _ dream again?”

They’ve both had several nightmares of the Uchiha Massacre since it occurred - almost two hundred people wiped out except for the murderer himself and a seven-year-old (and two children unknown to the clan - the only reason they were spared at all). It’s left them shaken, to say the least. “Yeah,” she mumbles, throwing her arm over her eyes; Iruka presses against them until she sees stars. 

Silence settles over them until the grey wash of dawn lights up the room, and Aoba grunts as he pushes himself upright. “C’mon, Ru; might as well get up.” 

With a sigh and a groan, she rises and dresses in shorts, a T-shirt, and her favorite green jacket. Once her brother is ready, they walk side by side to the cemetery not far away. 

They have some people to visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my laptop is sucky and glitched as I was finishing the fanart. Long story short, I lost all of my actual background, but since my focus was the foreground, I didn't really wanna have to go in and put in three more hours. 
> 
> Anyway, the idea is that Aoba and Iruka go to the cemetery early every Saturday morning and leave flowers at Mikoto's grave since as their excuse to visit their family without anyone being suspicious. On Saturdays that Aoba is off on a mission, Iruka will go by herself. Of course they visit the Name Stone, too. 
> 
> Now, the reason the Uchiha all have headstones in the cemetery even though Danzo took their bodies (and supposedly burned them like he told Hiruzen) is that Danzo suggested it would be good to have the headstones as a sort of memorial to the Uchiha Massacre to act as a sort of closure for the rest of the villagers. I hope that makes sense?


	3. Act I: Scene II

Kakashi really has no reason to suspect anything nefarious is underfoot - nothing, that is, except a dark feeling hovering behind his shoulder and the faint scent of blood and discharged chakra that grows stronger as he approaches one of the more private training grounds.

When he arrives, though, he can tell the chaos has already concluded, whatever it was. The charge in the air from the chakra is fading, and only the dark-haired chunin is left in the small forest clearing, tending her wounds. 

Well,  _ trying _ to tend her wounds; beneath the tang of blood is the sting of salt water. 

He creeps closer, processing as much visual information as possible to better understand the situation - and what he sees  _ disgusts _ him.

Umino Iruka is littered with injuries that Kakashi’s ANBU training recognizes as worthy of T&I. Her visible skin is a mottled blanket of colors, and cuts and abrasions show through her ruined blues. Most concerning, however, is the deep wound in her side that her hands hover over with a faint, green glow - and his blood goes  _ cold _ , rage pounding in icy shards against the inside of his skull. The placement of the gash would  _ have _ to be purposeful, especially since there is a lack of any weapon large enough laying around to create such a wound. 

_ Fuuma shuriken _ , his mind supplies. Before he makes the conscious decision to do so, Kakashi is stalking out of the treeline towards the chunin. 

Umino twitches as he approaches, head jerking up briefly before she focuses again on her iryojutsu.

A seal-less scan reveals her chakra reserves to be shockingly low and injuries that extend beneath her clothes. “What happened here,” he demands stonily. 

She glares up at him. “Training - though I don’t see how that’s any of your  _ business _ .” 

Kakashi narrows his eye warningly. “I can  _ smell _ your distress, Umino.”

This seems to hit her when he knows it otherwise wouldn’t have; she looks down again, body still in a way that only happens in the face of resignation and exhaustion. She sniffles quietly. “It was just training,” she murmurs. “He just - He’s just trying to make me stronger, teach me what the real world is like. He  _ cares _ .” But she doesn’t look up. “Mizuki-senpai almost made tokujou. He had a brain aneurysm, though, and it… it changed him.”

He watches her arms curl around herself, injuries forgotten and sluggishly leaking; her voice falls even further.

“He gets angry easier. He doesn’t mean to, I know it, but sometimes he has a hard time remembering that we’re friends. But he still trains with me, and he  _ tries _ to control his temper, he really does! It’s just… the battle-haze… I guess it can make him sorta forget again.”

Umino shrugs a shoulder and finally glances up, swallowing thickly. 

“I… I  _ know _ it’s not right,” she admits, “and I know I’m just making excuses, but… he’s my  _ friend _ , Hatake-san; he used to be the best kind of person, believe it. I just… I just wanna help…” 

She looks down again, and Kakashi feels the anger vanish, leaving him deflated. He crouches in front of her and places a hand covered in green healing chakra over the still-bleeding side-wound. When her eyes meet his in open shock, he offers a sad smile in response. “These are serious wounds, Umino-san - definitely not accidental. Are you sure he’s still your friend?” He gets no response, but he doesn’t expect one. 

Once the worst of her injuries are treated, Kakashi walks her home. 

Umino hesitates just inside her open door, body partially turned around. “... Thank you,” she breathes, and her apartment swallows her whole. 

* * *

Kakashi is in the park dozing beneath a particularly shady tree when he senses someone approach. He cracks his eye open - and finds Umino standing there dressed in civies: tight jogging pants, a wife-beater, and an unzipped hoodie two sizes too big. Her hands are shoved in the pockets of her jacket, and she’s scuffing the toe of her right tennis shoe in the dirt. 

“I…” She grimaces. “I need your help, Hatake-san.” 

He blinks, then slowly pushes himself upright. “Why me?” 

This time she winces. “Because - Because you saw me. Last week. After…” 

Ah. “This has to do with that bastard, then.” And despite himself, he feels a pinch of concern when she can’t even manage to glare  _ mildly _ at him for the insult to her ‘friend’. 

“I… I’ve been thinking. About what you asked me, I mean. And I…” Umino draws in a breath that shakes slightly; Kakashi gestures for her to sit beside him, and she sits cross-legged by his feet. After a moment she must find her courage because Umino squares her shoulders and meets his gaze with stubborn determination despite the fear he can see. “Mizuki has been making unwanted advances, and I’m too much of a coward to just ditch him. I -” She falters once again. “I’m his  _ only _ friend, Hatake-san, please understand; I can’t just - I could never just  _ abandon _ him!” 

There.  _ That’s _ the distress Kakashi had been expecting, warm brown eyes bright with unshed tears. And, in himself, rises anger. 

Now, it’s not necessarily anger on Umino’s behalf, specifically. As a shinobi of Konoha, Kakashi is sworn to protect those who can’t protect themselves, and he takes that duty seriously for all that he might be a Right Bastard. And for all that he holds himself aloof, for all that he cares about the troubles of others in a more vague, collective sense related to how it might affect his job… 

Well. Kakashi really, honestly, and truly has a place in his heart set aside solely for the purpose of hating rapists, molesters, and abusers. 

He shifts so that he’s facing Umino more directly, makes sure she can  _ see _ how serious he is as he asks, “What do you want me to do?” 

She blinks, eyes round; she obviously hadn’t quite expected him to agree.  _ Hoped _ maybe, but nothing more. “I…” Umino exhales and looks away out over the grass to the playground filled with happy children. “I don’t know.” 

Kakashi’s mind is whirling, sifting through scenarios and plots to find the perfect plan to help this young woman. He knows he should report Mizuki - just as he knows Umino would never forgive him. Likewise, he can’t use bodily harm - or threat  _ of _ \- against her friend, so that’s out of the question. He can’t exactly pose as a bodyguard or leave one of his summons with her (though  _ that’s _ an idea)...

His lips are moving before he can think about what he’s suggesting. “Date me.” 

Umino’s eyes flash with confusion and something darker, angrier. “ _ Excuse _ me?”

Yeah, he doesn’t blame her. What the  _ hell _ ? He plows on as if he’d  _ meant _ to say that. “Date me. Or pretend to, anyway. If you're supposedly taken by one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha then he won’t dare do anything to you.” 

She… actually looks like she’s considering it. “How would this work any differently than you being, say, my brother?”

Kakashi himself blinks at this, caught a bit off guard. He rethinks what he knows of her, adds this new reaction, and finds her rising in his esteem. Once he’s given the question its due consideration, he answers, “Maa, first of all, no one would  _ believe _ I’m your brother. If we were to just play at being close friends… No one would believe that either, at least not really. They would all assume we were dating and just trying to keep it quiet. Mizuki would spend his time trying to confirm the rumors which would keep putting you in contact with him. As your significant other, however, I can play at being the protective, jealous type to keep him away. People would  _ see _ us dating and just know not to interfere. If Mizuki tried anything, then every witness would know to step in on my behalf.” Suddenly Kakashi feels a sliver of  _ something _ icky settle in his stomach. “They should be stepping in anyway when he harasses you, you know; the only reason they haven’t is because they know you two are ‘friends’ -” He doesn’t lean on that word with heavy sarcasm; he  _ doesn’t _ \- “and they believe that you would say something if you weren’t okay with it.” 

“ _ I’m not _ ,” she whispers - and  _ that’s _ shame in her voice. 

He forces himself to soften his posture, his tone as gentle as he can make it. “I know. I also understand that it’s a lot harder to stand up to a friend than it is an enemy.”

Umino nods jerkily. 

“... I think this is the best way to handle the situation for now,” he murmurs.

She takes a few deep, steadying breaths before meeting his gaze once more. “Alright,” she agrees (it’s false bravado she projects, but he silently applauds her bravery anyway). “We’ll do this your way, Hatake-san.” Something seems to occur to her, and her cheeks flush rather prettily. “Ah, maybe we should call each other by our names? People might think it’s a little weird if we don’t… Unless, of course -” 

Kakashi grins beneath his mask. “No, you’re right, Umino-san.” He holds out a hand. “Th’ name’s Hatake Kakashi. I have seven nin dogs, soon to be seven once I get the youngest fully trained. My favorite food is salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant, and I should warn you now that very few people even want to be my friends; I can be… unpleasant.”

Her blush darkens, but she reaches out and shakes his hand firmly. “My name’s Umino Iruka. I teach at the Academy, and I love my job. My favorite food is Ichiraku Ramen, and I should warn  _ you _ that I won’t put up with your bullshit.” Instantly her entire face, including her ears and neck, glow a brilliant red. “I mean, I’ll  _ try _ , but I have a temper, and it’s not hard to set me off.” 

He eye-smiles, grin turning sharp though she wouldn’t see it. “I think we’ll get along just fine, Iruka-san.” 

* * *

Whatever Kakashi was expecting when he knocked on Iruka’s door, it was  _ not _ Aoba opening it. 

While the silver-haired man blinked uncomprehendingly, Yamashiro Aoba smirked and yelled back into the apartment, “Ru, your boyfriend’s here!” 

Within a minute Iruka was there, punching Aoba on the arm as she dried her hands on a towel. “Be nice, Oba; can’t you see the poor man’s in shock?” It’s her turn to smirk - and suddenly Kakashi can see an uncanny resemblance between the two he would never have noticed had they not been standing beside each other. 

“Y-You - You’re  _ related _ ?!” he blurts, and they both outright  _ laugh _ and guide him inside their modest home to sit at the small dining room table.

“Siblings,” the brunette grins and leans comfortably against the older man’s shoulder. “Aoba practically raised me.” 

Kakashi forces himself to ignore  _ why _ Aoba would have needed to raise her, but it does answer some questions. “Adopted, then.” 

She shrugs casually but does not otherwise answer. “I thought it best you know - especially since Oba-nii and I live in the same apartment.” Iruka heads into the kitchen and brings out a steaming pot of homemade ramen and sets it on the table. 

He cocks a brow, somehow unsurprised. “Ramen?” 

Iruka blushes as Aoba comes back out with dishes and utensils.

Aoba grins cheekily and states, “It’s the only thing she can actually make without burning the kitchen down - and she  _ insisted _ she cook tonight.” 

Her flush darkens, and Kakashi finds himself amused at her embarrassment. 

Maybe this plan will work after all.


	4. Act I: Scene III

It starts when he notices extra things laying around.

Little things.

Things that, if he weren’t so suspicious anyway, might not have set him off.

But.

An extra bow in the dishwasher (where he ostensibly wouldn’t have noticed it)?

A couple of extra chopsticks soaking in the sink?

Fewer leftovers in the fridge for Saturday dinner? 

A pair of socks shoved under the couch?

Now, if Aoba were perhaps taking a ton of back-to-back missions and just getting lazy because of exhaustion, Kakashi might have chalked it up to that. But Aoba left two weeks after Kakashi started noticing the Little Things, and it hasn’t stopped. And Kakashi  _ knows _ \- he  _ knows _ \- it’s not Iruka leaving the apartment in such a state because, while she may be a little more laid-back, she is absolutely  _ anal _ about keeping a decently clean home. 

So. 

Who the hell has been here? 

Well, it’s  _ not _ who he is expecting, that’s for sure. 

After three weeks of this, Kakashi decides to surprise Iruka when he gets back from a mission a couple of days early by dropping in; what he finds is his girlfriend sitting at the table with Uzumaki Naruto helping him with homework. 

He blinks slowly, not quite understanding what he’s seeing. 

After a stunned moment, Iruka beams a tad too brightly at him and greets, “Kashi! Welcome home! You got done early, ne?” 

The Copy Nin forces himself to eye-smile and slumps a little lower; Sensei’s kid is just  _ staring _ at him with those big, blue eyes, suspicious and scared and worried all at once (and all-too-obvious in those shards of sky). “Maa, yeah, we finished a couple days early. I thought I’d drop in to see you!” 

Suddenly Naruto’s eyes narrow. “Ne, wait a minute! Are  _ you _ Ruka-sensei’s  _ boyfriend _ ?” 

Huh. That’s an interesting shade the chunin is blushing. Kakashi, troll that he is, milks it. “Of course! Ru-chan has been talking about me, then? All good things, I hope!”

“Hah! You  _ wish _ . Last week, she told us her ‘secret boyfriend’ is real annoyin’ an’ doesn’t let ‘er eat all the ramen she’d like.” Oof.  _ That _ is some pre-pubescent irritation, right there. “Ain’t  _ nobody _ can tell Ruka- _ sensei _ what t’ do - an’  _ especially _ ain’t nobody can tell her not t’ eat  _ ramen _ , dattebayo!” 

If Kakashi were a kinder man, he wouldn’t find Naruto’s potent glare so kitten-cute. And he  _ definitely _ wouldn’t find Iruka’s utter embarrassment so  _ fun _ . 

“I was having a rough day,” she mutters into her hands. “The kids like to nose into my private life.” 

Ah, he sees now. With Mizuki there, Iruka would have taken the opportunity offered to reinforce Kakashi’s supposed ‘claim’ to her. That it has resulted in such an entertaining scenario is but a bonus. “Maa, of course,” he states blandly, waving away her explanation (but he catches her gaze with a shit-eating smirk she won’t see but will most definitely  _ feel _ ). “We should always be looking to encourage the curiosity of the next generation!” 

He laughs the whole time Iruka chases him out of the apartment. 

At least he knows how the Little Things have been cropping up. Now if he could only figure out  _ why _ … 

* * *

It turns out that the ‘why’ isn’t so complicated. 

A month later, Kakashi is on patrol when he catches sight of Iruka walking toward the Uchiha district. Curious - and concerned - he follows her at a safe distance and watches as she is met by Uchiha Sasuke at the gates. There is a brief exchange of words and grunts, Iruka’s face pinched in concern; she hands him a sack of… tomatoes? Kakashi opens his sharingan for just a brief second. Yep, tomatoes; Uchiha-kun nods reluctantly. 

The boy absconds into the compound with his prize - and Iruka waits patiently right where she stood. Ten minutes later, Uchiha re-emerges with a pack on his back and a resigned set to his features. Together they walk back to the chunin’s apartment. 

It is several minutes before Kakashi can convince himself to continue his patrol. 

He is  _ so _ confused. 

* * *

It doesn’t take much to convince her brother that they need a bigger home. Naruto has been sleeping in her room for the last two months, forcing Iruka to sleep with Aoba every night, and with Sasuke slowly warming up to her, she just  _ knows _ there soon won’t be enough beds in their apartment. 

Between Aoba’s ANBU missions and Iruka’s occasional Special Requests from T&I, they have just enough money saved to purchase a small, two-story house towards the edge of town, right in between the Uchiha compound and the nearby pond. They purchase it quietly, claiming to need a little more room when Genma, Raidou, Izumo, Kotetsu, or Iwashi ask - a place they can maybe start to believe is  _ home _ . 

What she tells only Aoba, late at night as they sit close together on the couch, is that she’s afraid of what Kakashi might say if things progress as they have - if one day he shows up at the wrong time and finds out that both the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and the ‘Last’ Uchiha have been staying the night at the apartment whenever they feel like. (That Naruto is so much happier with her and her brother, that he’s doing better in school, that Sasuke is gradually opening up to them all just a  _ bit _ .) She’s doing her best for those kids, wants to give them the love and the home they deserve, but she’s just as equally afraid that one wrong move will snatch the boys away from her and lock them back in their ugly cages. 

Aoba always sits quietly for a moment when she confesses these fears, sits and thinks and then asks the same question: Why does she care?

Iruka remembers how much it hurt to even be in the same building as Naruto six months ago, how the sensation of that mixed chakra, one bright and energetic, the other smoldering and slumbering, made her physically ill. She remembers the first time she noticed Old Man Ichiraku giving Naruto free ramen with a genuine smile, sadness dimming that simple, domestic peace - remembers realizing that Naruto was  _ starving _ , unable, for whatever reason, to buy himself proper food and no one to teach him about nutrition. 

She wonders, darkly, when Aoba isn’t around, if she might have been like Naruto if her brother hadn’t taken her in. 

Iruka remembers Sasuke, how withdrawn and distant and cold he’d become (too cold and angry for any seven-year-old, surely). Her heart had reached out to him from the very beginning, feeling for him in a way no one else in the village would ever be able to.

She remembers the months and months and  _ months _ it took to win the trust of those two boys, how she started with offers of tutoring, how she began to casually provide snacks, how she delayed their leaving until they  _ had _ to stay for dinner, how she began to secretly pack Naruto bentos, how she slowly, gradually, surely earned their trust like feral cats. 

How they learned to tolerate each other for her sake. 

Iruka remembers, and she grows  _ angry _ because no child of Konoha should  _ ever _ be in positions such as theirs. It’s not  _ right _ , it reeks of something darker, and if the only thing she can do is give them a safe place to sleep and be happy and learn, then by  _ Kami _ she will give it and give it until her hair turns grey. 

“Because it’s not  _ fair _ . Because they’re  _ children _ . Because they taught me to look beyond myself and see  _ them _ .” 

That’s always her answer, and it’s then that her brother turns to her and murmurs, “Then you’ll always do right by them. You’d never do anything less.” 

And it’s this, two years after the conception of their scheme, that convinces her it’s time to let Kakashi go. If it means keeping her boys, keeping them safe, then she will step out from behind her shield and let the kunai take her. 

It’s everything they deserve. 

And she can’t afford to do anything less.

* * *

They do it to save their sanity and whatever is left of their professionalism. 

It’s not that they don’t  _ like _ each other, because Iruka is sure there had sometimes been a spark or two of interest, but they are just so… different. Kakashi is easily one of the most deadly nin in any nation, and he belies that with a laid-back attitude, blase responses, and a strict regimen to maintain his physical and mental health.

Iruka, on the other hand, is not deadly so much as a survivor; if that means the life of an enemy, then so be it. She blends in with the people around her, easily able to become just another face in the crowd, and she is known to have a fiery temper despite being a mother hen. But she has no regimen to speak of. She takes lazy days often, indulges in ramen and chocolate even more, and she has such little regard for herself that she relies on others to remind her to sleep, take breaks - even eat. 

And Kakashi can’t  _ stand _ that. Iruka knows it because his frustration grew every time he was forced to drag her from extra paperwork until he finally, finally, reached the end of his patience. 

What followed was the most explosive fight they had ever had. In the end, they agreed to call it quits and go their separate ways. 

Aoba watched in confusion as the two simply… stopped coexisting in the same circles yet exchanged polite greetings (or, polite for Kakashi) when they passed in the street. 

Life moved on.


	5. Act I: Scene IV

Naruto doesn’t really know what’s going on. He knows that Mizuki promised him another chance to graduate (he shouldn’t have  _ needed _ it, should have passed the  _ first time _ ), knows that getting the scroll was  _ way _ too easy, even for him - knows that he should have paid attention to that sliver of his brain screaming at him to just go to Iruka. 

But he didn’t, and now he’s watching the woman who has come to mean so much to him lead the traitor on a merry chase. 

There’s a lot of  _ darkness _ around them, he notes, almost distracted by the red-black miasma of  _ fear hate anger betrayal _ highlighting the two chunin as they fight. 

He has… perhaps never been so scared in his life. Mizuki’s words bounce around in his skull like rubber balls, twist his guts like rubber bands. Naruto doesn’t want to believe it, but here, curled up as tight as he can against a tree, listening to Mizuki belittle one of the few adults to ever have treated Naruto with kindness, remembering all of the cruel words and the loneliness and the hatred directed at him by the other villagers… how can he deny it? 

The trees loom ever-taller, closing in on him as his breaths speed up.  _ Why didn’t Iruka say anything? Why did she keep it a secret? _

But he doesn’t know what’s going on, doesn’t have the - the  _ context _ for it like Iruka has always tried to remind him, and besides, Mizuki is trying to  _ kill Iruka _ . 

And  _ that _ \- That cannot happen. 

Naruto opens his eyes to find Mizuki unconscious at his feet and adrenaline firing through his veins. It takes a moment for everything to process - did he just beat Mizuki? - but when it does, he spins in a frantic circle; he spots Iruka sitting against a nearby tree, eyes half-closed and face pale. 

“Ruka-sensei!” He throws his arms around her as the wave of relief breaks over him, dousing him like ice water. 

“N-Na-kun,” she smiles, but he can tell she’s in  _ so much _ pain. “You did well, Nar’to.” 

His eyes are burning. “But -  _ Mizuki _ -”

“Is a traitor.” Her brown eyes light briefly with the fire the blonde has come to associate with his favorite adult. “He - He failed you on  _ purpose _ , Na-kun. I was gonna tell you, bu’ you  _ dis’ppeared _ …” There’s a moment where her head begins to loll, and panic drags his voice from his throat. 

“ _ No _ ! Ruka-sensei, you  _ can’t _ \- ya gotta  _ stay awake _ , dattebayo! You - you  _ gotta _ !” He shakes her shoulders, grips her hands, pats her cheeks - until he notices her eyes are cracked open, and through the slit glows red. “R-Ruka…” Naruto swallows, hard. Iruka watches him blearily, and he can see her growing weaker with every moment. 

“ _ Prou’ of you _ ,” she whispers before going limp, and Naruto does the only thing he can think of: he begins sobbing her name. 

He doesn’t know when ANBU gets there, just that there are suddenly zoo-faced shinobi around him and Iruka, lifting him up and away, taking the Forbidden Scroll, checking on his teacher. 

“ _ No _ ! You can’t take me  _ away _ from ‘er!” he cries, struggles for all he’s worth. “You  _ can’t _ ! She  _ needs _ me!” They don’t listen; they never do. “ _ You can’t take me from Ru-kaasan _ !” 

The ANBU he knows as Crow jerks his mask around to face him, and Naruto stills just a bit under the intense scrutiny. After a second, Crow looks up from where he crouches over Iruka to Hound, the ANBU currently tossing Mizuki over one shoulder like a sack of rice. Hound’s hand twitches in what Naruto distantly recognizes as that super-secret, super-cool sign the ANBU all know, and Crow nods, hand flickering back. Hound turns to the ANBU holding Naruto and says, “He can go with Umino-san to the hospital.” 

Naruto lets himself go completely limp now that he knows he’ll be with Iruka; in this moment, there’s no place he’d rather be.

* * *

Iruka wakes up to sterile white and beeping and pain. She groans raspily as she shifts, wincing as her back lances fire across her body. 

“Iruka?” 

It’s a great effort to peel open her eyes, but open them she does, and the first thing she sees is Asuma sitting next to her bed. She squints. “Suma-nii? Whatcha… Whatcha doin’ here?”

The crease between his brows deepens, dark eyes never leaving her. “I’m here for  _ you _ , kiddo,” he answers softly. “Do you remember what happened?”

And  _ kami _ she wishes he had never asked that because she  _ does _ ; it all comes flooding back, and she wants to be left alone to cry. “ _ Naruto _ ,” she breathes. “Where’s he? He okay? Zuki  _ told _ ‘im, Suma, he -”

“Naruto-kun is fine, kid. You’re both - You’re both fine.” He dips his head in  _ worry relief regret _ . Iruka blinks at him. 

“... Mizuki?” 

Instantly the softer emotions are replaced with  _ anger hate betrayal _ , and it’s sharp enough, her mental walls are down enough, that it sends a spike through her skull that makes her whimper quietly. Asuma draws back guiltily. “Shit, kiddo, I’m sorry.” Every emotion in the room sort of  _ slurps _ back to Asuma, and Iruka takes a deep breath (which is hard given she’s on her stomach). “That bastard was handed over to T&I by ANBU directly. He’s been with them since - two days, about. Meanwhile, you’ve been here in the hospital recovering.” 

“ _ Two _ -?! As’ma, I -”

“You almost  _ died _ , Iruka,” he snaps. “You lost too much blood, used too much chakra, and if that fuuma had hit you just a little up, down, or to the left, it would have either punctured a lung or severed your spine. You’re  _ lucky _ , and you’re gonna remember that by  _ staying in bed _ and taking it easy until you heal.” 

She fights the urge to grimace at the list of her injuries. “But the  _ kids _ -”

“We’ll take care of them, alright? One of us will send a clone under a henge of you to the class so that they aren’t overly worried, and we’ve all agreed to take shifts at your house to make sure Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are taking care of themselves.” Something in him softens, and he cocks a crooked grin. “The brats have been in here every day to visit you, but Aoba made sure we all know not to let them stay too long.” 

Iruka takes a few moments to process that, insides going all warm and gooey with affection. Then the worry returns. “Where’s Oba?” 

Asuma sighs and sits back in the chair. “Aoba’s been on duty since the incident. Dad’s had him on the team questioning Mizuki with Ibiki and Anko while Hound’s and Tiger’s teams are backtracking th’ bastard’s steps and going through his house and personal items. He paused. “Did you know he had a girlfriend?” 

The chunin sighs and forces her muscles to relax. “Yeah. She’s real sweet - a medic, I think. Liked Zuki since we were kids…” 

It’s not until there’s a heavy sigh above her that Iruka realizes her eyes have drifted closed. “Get some rest, Ru. Someone’ll be here when you wake up.” 

She chooses to believe him.

* * *

When she and Naruto can finally talk, he’s already been a genin for three days. Terrible, boring, no good, very bad days, because Kakashi has and always will be a sadistic bastard. If only he weren’t the best one for the job. 

Iruka wakes up in the late afternoon to the smell of ramen and the sound of contemplative slurping. “Na-kun?” she murmurs, shuffling and shifting to see the blonde whirlwind. 

“Ruka-sensei! You’re awake!” He bounds forward and hugs her shoulders with a gentleness so contrary to the energy he practically oozes before bouncing right back into his chair. Naruto begins telling her all about the last few days, talking all about how he and Sasuke were totally prepared for that Kaka-baka’s stupid test but that harpy Sakura wasn’t, and -

She smiles and provides the appropriate responses when needed. 

Eventually, though, his voice trails off back into thoughtfulness, and he is slightly hurt and betrayed. “Iruka-sensei, why didn’t…” He swallows. “Why didn’t you ever say anything? About  _ me _ ?”

The chunin sighs and shifts again, ignoring the twinge in her back. “It’s not because I didn’t trust you, Naruto,” she answers seriously, “and not because I secretly hate you or hold what that monster did 12 years ago.” Deep breath in, deep breath out. “First of all, it’s a law: no one is allowed to tell you or talk about the Kyuubi without express permission on order of Sandaime himself. It was meant to protect you, but it… it didn’t really work. So I  _ couldn’t _ tell you without breaking the law. But I also… I also chose to keep it a secret, even when I wanted  _ so much _ to tell you because I know how secrets can hurt somebody.” 

Those twin pieces of sky study her intently. 

“... Did you see my eyes?” She knows he did, remembers clearly the moment he looked up and startled, remembers it especially because it was also the moment she realized her gift had activated. 

Naruto nods hesitantly. “They - They were red, like in th’ pictures in Sasuke-baka’s house.” 

Iruka tries to smile gently but is afraid it looks more like a grimace. “ _ Just _ like those pictures, Naruto. Aoba and I must keep a very dangerous secret about ourselves, because if we didn’t, then the person who killed Sasuke-kun’s entire family might come after us.” 

“Oh…. Does Sasuke know?”

“... No. He will when he needs to, though - just like I would have told you after you graduated.” 

“Really?” And despite the topic, despite the circumstances, the impossible child brightens. “You mean it?” 

Despite herself, she smiles. “I do. If you hadn’t passed for  _ reals _ , I would have waited another year before telling you - because telling you would mean you’re ready to grow up, and I wanted you to be a kid for just a little longer.” 

They sit quietly for several minutes, his eyes downturned. Then, just when Iruka begins to give up hope, he darts forward and embraces her again; his body is warm where it’s pressed across her shoulder and upper back, his weight carefully held and distributed so that he doesn’t hurt her back. “ _ Love you, Ru-kaasan _ .” 

Her heart swells instantly and near to bursting in milliseconds, and then he’s up and running out the door shouting about finding Sasuke. 

A voice chuckles behind her - from the direction of the window - and she turns her head the other way and smiles at her brother. “The first time he said that was in the clearing when we were trying to take you to the hospital. Told us he couldn’t leave you - called you  _ that _ .”

Iruka knows her cheeks are burning. “It’s adorable,” she grumbles, and Aoba grins.

“Of course it is; he called you  _ mom _ . Didn’t know you were such a softie, li’l sis.” 

Her glare is definitely real, and Aoba smirks triumphantly. 

“I just came in to check on you. I need to be getting back to HQ in a bit, and Genma should be getting here in a few minutes.”

“Oh,  _ joy _ .” 

Another shit-eating grin. “Ah, come on; he’s not  _ that _ bad, Ru. You  _ love  _ th’ guy!” 

“He  _ picks on me _ ,” she whines. “Raidou’s the  _ only _ nice one of you lot, yanno.” 

“Oh, we know.” Aoba shuffles for a moment - then leans down and presses a quick kiss to her head. “Stay safe, imouto,” he murmurs before jumping out the window. 

She stares after him for a while before whispering, “You, too.” In her mind she adds,  _ Good luck _ . 

Iruka has a feeling they’re going to need it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Act 1! I hope you liked this as much as we did :) Quick question if y'all wouldn't mind answering, but would you rather we post each chapter as it's finished or post a whole arc at a time?
> 
> Thank you! <3


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